Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone has ever taken a fresh green gourd from the garden and tried to cut the 3 in clean-out hole in it.I know you can drill the holes in the bottom and the one in the neck to hang it up by.I think if it is possible to drill the 3 in hole in the side of the gourd it would help it a lot to dry faster, which would also help it from rotting .I guess the best thing to do would be to take a gourd and cut the 3 in hole in the side and see what happens.I have a lot of gourds this year so I'm going to try a couple and see what happens.I'll let you all know how it works out.
Don
Green Gourd
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Emil Pampell-Tx
- Posts: 6743
- Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:26 pm
- Location: Tx, Richmond (SW of Houston)
- Martin Colony History: First started in Gretna, La in 1969 with a small homemade house, have had martins ever since at 2 different homes in Texas
I have done exactly that. It works to some extent to keep the gourd from rotting, but there are other undesirable things that creep in. First, the gourd shell may be very thin, also it may be soft instead of dense, and thus it will break rather easily. If you must pick them before they dry, that is a way to make it dry quicker and see what will happen.
The thing that I want to stress is that you simply cannot rush the drying process and expect to get a top notch quality gourd. There is something about a gourd maturing on the vine that cannot be duplicated in any other way, but I understand your situation, especially in cold climates, and Don, I hope that you get a usable gourd.
The thing that I want to stress is that you simply cannot rush the drying process and expect to get a top notch quality gourd. There is something about a gourd maturing on the vine that cannot be duplicated in any other way, but I understand your situation, especially in cold climates, and Don, I hope that you get a usable gourd.
PMCA Member, 250 gourds, 6 poles, 2traps
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Guest
Emil,
The stems and vines on the gourds were brown so they were ready to be picked.I have them all in the greenhouse with the fans running.They dried real nice that way last year.I just thought that I might be able to speed up the process by cutting in the 3 in hole.
Don
The stems and vines on the gourds were brown so they were ready to be picked.I have them all in the greenhouse with the fans running.They dried real nice that way last year.I just thought that I might be able to speed up the process by cutting in the 3 in hole.
Don
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Guest
Don, I'm no gourd growing expert, but I know that I wouldn't chance it myself. I have never put a big patch out so don't get many gourds each year, so I'd hate to ruin a good gourd. Now, if you want to try it just out of curiosity on one that's not one of your better ones, then I wouldn't be afraid to do that.
I know what you mean though about your gourds being green and the stems being brown. My gourds are never brown when I pick remove them from the vine. If I wouldn't bring mine inside after I pick them, they wouldn't be dry until spring. I left some outside over winter already and it doesn't hurt them, but I don't see how they can dry out that way. Mine were frozen and hard as a rock. The ones that I brought inside and sat by our heat registers were dry in several weeks. I think running a fan on them helps them to dry out faster also. If you have a warm place where you can put them, I'd recommend that, but unless you have a very understanding wife, I don't know if I'd bring them in the house or not. They stink up the whole house, and in my case, I hear about it. So to keep peace in the family, I told them I'd never bring a gourd in the house again. As a matter of fact, I'm not even going to be growing them anymore, so that's even better yet.
Up here this far north I don't think there is such a thing as a gourd maturing on a vine. When the vines are brown and dry and it's obvious that no more nutrients are even going to the gourd, I don't see how a gourd would even be able to mature on the vine. So I pick mine at that point, since I see no reason for keeping the green gourd on a vine that isn't doing anything for it. I think it's different down south, and I think theirs do mature on the vine. Not up here...well, I will say not at my place anyway, but I suspect that it's the same for others this far north. At least a person this far north is lucky enough to be able to grow them if he wants to. Good luck with the drying process.
I know what you mean though about your gourds being green and the stems being brown. My gourds are never brown when I pick remove them from the vine. If I wouldn't bring mine inside after I pick them, they wouldn't be dry until spring. I left some outside over winter already and it doesn't hurt them, but I don't see how they can dry out that way. Mine were frozen and hard as a rock. The ones that I brought inside and sat by our heat registers were dry in several weeks. I think running a fan on them helps them to dry out faster also. If you have a warm place where you can put them, I'd recommend that, but unless you have a very understanding wife, I don't know if I'd bring them in the house or not. They stink up the whole house, and in my case, I hear about it. So to keep peace in the family, I told them I'd never bring a gourd in the house again. As a matter of fact, I'm not even going to be growing them anymore, so that's even better yet.
Up here this far north I don't think there is such a thing as a gourd maturing on a vine. When the vines are brown and dry and it's obvious that no more nutrients are even going to the gourd, I don't see how a gourd would even be able to mature on the vine. So I pick mine at that point, since I see no reason for keeping the green gourd on a vine that isn't doing anything for it. I think it's different down south, and I think theirs do mature on the vine. Not up here...well, I will say not at my place anyway, but I suspect that it's the same for others this far north. At least a person this far north is lucky enough to be able to grow them if he wants to. Good luck with the drying process.
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Guest
Kathy,
What do they mean when they talk about being a mature gourd ? I myself think that a gourd is mature when it stops growing.I think when they start to dry until they are dried out is another story.
So why aren't you going to grow anymore gourds .Is it because you don't need any more or is it to much bother.
Don
What do they mean when they talk about being a mature gourd ? I myself think that a gourd is mature when it stops growing.I think when they start to dry until they are dried out is another story.
So why aren't you going to grow anymore gourds .Is it because you don't need any more or is it to much bother.
Don
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Guest
Ya know, that's a good question! Perhaps I used the wrong word when I said "mature". I think I should have said dry instead. Actually, I read that gourds have reached maturity when the vine has died and dried. What I meant to say before was that I never picked a brown gourd from a vine and that I don't think that any of my gourds here would ever dry (as opposed to mature) on the vine. I think in the south they might but not up here at my place. Mine aren't dried out until months after I pick them, and I usually pick them after the first frost, and they are still green when I pick them, but the vines have already dried at that point (before that , actually).ford8n wrote:Kathy,
What do they mean when they talk about being a mature gourd ? I myself think that a gourd is mature when it stops growing.I think when they start to dry until they are dried out is another story.
So why aren't you going to grow anymore gourds .Is it because you don't need any more or is it to much bother.
Don
There are several reasons I've quit growing gourds. One is that I really don't need more gourds, as I already have plenty hanging that have never even been occupied. I don't have any martins, and chances are that I probably won't ever get any here, and I have no intentions of hanging any more gourds here. Gourd preparation takes a lot of time, but it's fun doing them. Another reason I'm not growing them anymore is that I'm broadening my horizons and am now also getting into butterflies and I wanted to turn the gourd patch (that was growing gourds for martins that aren't even here) into a butterfly garden, which would grow plants for butterflies that I KNOW show up here every year. One other reason I'm not growing gourds anymore is that I get tired of hearing about how the gourd plants smell so bad. Actually, I agree that they aren't the most pleasant thing I've ever smelled, although I never see other people make comments about that. It's not that the gourd growing was too much bother; I actually thought it was a lot of fun, but I think my time would be better used doing something else instead.
Cathy